Skip to content

oficioso

unofficial

adjective oh-fee-SYOH-soh Rare
Communication Expressions

Also means

officious

Usage Note

Oficioso is a significant false friend: in Spanish it primarily means 'unofficial' or 'semi-official' (una fuente oficiosa, 'an unofficial source'), not 'officious' (= intrusive/overbearing) as in English. The English sense 'officious' maps to entrometido or impertinente in Spanish. In diplomatic language, nota oficiosa is a communiqué that is not fully binding.

Examples

"La información proviene de una fuente oficiosa."

Natural Translation

The information comes from an unofficial source.

Free starter pack

Building your Spanish vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common Spanish words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore Spanish by topic